If you watch a lot of survival shows one of the key elements of the show is making fire. That is because when you get down to the basic survival needs of humans, fire is one of the things we need along with shelter, water and food. Fire keeps us warm, it cooks our meals and it makes our water safe to drink.

However, there is a huge emphasis on making fire by friction on a lot of these shows. That is basically rubbing two sticks together until you get an ember and can catch some tinder on fire. If you know how to do this, that is awesome. I am not knocking that skill at all, nor am I saying that learning how to do it is pointless. If you have nothing, then knowing how to get a fire from sticks is a good thing to know. This might not be a popular opinion, but If you prepare, even slightly, then you can avoid having to use this primitive skill altogether.

I've mentioned it before on here, but I always carry two ways of making fire on me. I have a lighter, and on my key chain I have a small fire steel. Almost all of us carry our keys with us at all times right? So why not do what I do and keep a fire steel on your key chain? Making a fire with one of those is infinitely easier than using a bow drill, hand drill, fire plow etc!

My key chain fire steel

If you watch Ray Mears, or (Dare I say it?) Bear Grylls, both of those guys almost always use fire steel to start their fires. Sure, they have demonstrated fire by friction on occasion, but for the most part they throw a few sparks from their fire steel and get a fire going in no time! It's just more efficient, and having one with you at all times is just a smarter way to go.